The Grenada gazette., 1887-11-19
EYES OF rnE sEE
0trueturss whose Conpjsxity Il Dl0eult -
Compreheaslon.

UefU0t0roo WnO00 o1pso1HSy - OA43S4A6 :
Compseheaslon.
ANY one who will take the trouble h
examine with lens the head Of be.
will see on either side the large. round.
ed compound eye. and ON the forehead
or vertex three bright little simple eyes.
The latter are. as their name implies.
comparatively simple in structure. each
with single lens. But the compound
eyes have complex structure. Exter-
nalIy the surface is seen to be divided
up into great number Of hexagonal
areas, each Of which is called facet,
and forms a little lens. OF these the
queen bee has on each side nearly 5, 900,
the worker some 5000 and the drone
upward Of 1900. Beneath each facet
Is u crystalline cone. II so-called nerve
rod. and other structures, too complex
to be here described, which pass inward
toward the brain. twill be seen. then,
that the so-called compound eye with
its thousands Of facets, its thousands Of
crystalline cones, it's thousands Of
"nervc rods and other elements, is a
structure Of no little complexity. The
question now arises: Is it one structure
or manyp Is it an eye or an aggregate
Of eyesp To this question the older
naturalists answered confdently--an
aggregate. And a simple experiment
seems to warrant this conclusion. Pu-
get. quoted in Goldsmith's ''Anilmated
Nature" adapted the facets Of the eye
Of f-pardon me, fair reader, Of
aphanipterous insect Of the genus Pu-
lex-so as to see objects through it
under the microscope. IA soldier who
was thus seen appeared like an army
of pigmies, for while it multiplied
it also diminished the object; the
arch of a bridge exhibited a spectacle
more magnificent than human skill
could perform, and the flame of q can
die seemed the illumination of thou
sands Of lamps" Although Cheshire,
in his book on tfo bee, adopts this
view and supports it by reference to
y similar experiment, it numbers to-
lay but few supporters. One is tempt
I'd to marvel at the ability of the drone
% coordinate 24.000 separate images
nto a single distinct object Picture
he confusion of images of one who
lad slipped too freely Of the sweet but
'elusive dregs of the punch bowl!
Under similar circumstances human
ok are reported to see double. Think
# the appalling condition of an inebri-
tie drone! Those who believe the
acetted eye to be one organ with many
'arts, contend that each facet and its
Underlying structures give, not COM
'lcte image of the external object as a
1hole, but the image Of u single point (,
+ that object Thus there is formed,
y the juxtaposition of contiguous
oints, a stippled image or an image
4 mosaic. Hence this view is
nown as Muller's mosaic hypothesis. q
'owne has experlmented with fine
lass threads arranged like the cones
nd nerve rods of the bees eye. and
nds that (even when they are not 8
by pigment, as are the j
ements in an insects eye) all oblique i
'ys are got rid Of by numerous rehec- ,
ons and the interference due to the
ffercnt lengths of the rays. Some
Of the mosaic hypothesis
now generally adopted. and DR.. =
ickson has recently worked out with
eat care the structure of the optic =
act which lies between the crystalline s
mes and the brain. -Murrau's Ma0a- g g